Cassie is a mixed martial artist with over five years of study. Training primarily in South Korea, she has black belts in Taekwondo, Hapkido, and Muay Thai kickboxing. A proud Canadian from Roberts Arm, Newfoundland, she files for The Crossfire having recently returned from South Korea. She also blogs for Postmedia Networks’ Womens Fight Club website.. Image courtesy Steve Bartlett

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER WEEK 1 MATCHUPS:

Jake Heun (3-2) vs. Adam Cella (4-0)Wiseman: Heun, having trained with Chris Leben gave hime the advantage. What he showed was a lack of technique, but vicious power that demanded attention. Cella, however, was able to withstand some punishment and get the submission win.

Zak Cummings (15-3) vs. Nik Fehete (5-1)Wiseman: There wasn’t really much time to see anything as Cummings threw one punch and got a TKO with it. Was it a lack of skill on Nik’s part or an abundance of skill on Cummings’ part? Only time will tell.

Eldon Sproat (3-1) vs. Kevin Casey (5-2)

Wiseman: Casey was much bigger than Sproat and it was obvious from the beginning that he was the superior grappler. Sproat managed to cut him with an elbow, but Casey didn’t let the blood bother him as he earned the submission win.

Scott Rosa (4-1) vs. Tor Troeng (15-4-1)

Wiseman: Rosa seemed a little off as he was shadowboxing with the camera bringing White and the coaches to laughter and Troeng’s skills seemed to not match what was expected. While Troeng did get a submission win it wasn’t impressive.

Clint Hester (7-3) vs. Frasier Opie (10-5)

Wiseman: Clint showed power and mixed up things with his striking, with good takedowns and dominance on the ground. He managed to get the attention of both coaches with his TKO win over Opie.

Ryan Lee Q. Bigler (9-3) vs. Bubba McDaniel (20-6)

Wiseman: McDaniel being a training partner of Jon Jones allowed fans to quickly learn that when he is on he’s on, but he isn’t consistent and the lack of entertainment after the first round caused Jones to try to give advice outside the cage. Regardless of who Bubba knows, or his TKO win, there wasn’t any excitement happening in this fight. The biggest question is if Jones will pick Bubba to be on his team due to their training history?

Josh Samman (9-2) vs. Leo Bercier (7-2)

Wiseman: Samman was able to get a takedown against Bercier early, then unloaded with body shots. He showed complete dominance on the ground and scored a TKO win. He didn’t impress White with his double-fisted punches, but it got Sonnen’s attention as he left his seat for the first time to go meet one of the fighters.

Kito Andrews (9-2) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (5-0)

Wiseman: Andrews showed some nasty body shots in the first round, but Gastelum started to pour it on as the fight progressed. The determining factor was the cardio of Gastelum which gave him the decision win.

Jimmy Quinlan (3-0) vs. Mike Jaspar (6-0)

Wiseman: Quinlan showed dominant wrestling and implemented his game plan from the start of the fight. He impressed the coaches and stood out from the others.

Uriah Hall (7-2) vs. Andy Enz (6-1)

Wiseman: Hall was able to display good standup, scored takedowns and did a load of damage that got the attention of everyone. When Enz was able to get into top position Hall showed a strong ground game. Sonnen gave a standing shoutout after the first round as both fighters put on a show. Enz displayed a great chin and heart, while Hall showed skills in every area. Hall won.

Gilbert Smith (5-1) vs. Eric Wahlin (5-1)

Wiseman: Smith showed bulldozing takedown power, as he slammed Wahlin and remained dominant in top position. Jones said after the fight that Smith would be the fighter to send in against a striker with weak takedown defense. Smith got the submission win in the first round.

Nicolas Kohring (3-0) vs. Luke Barnatt (5-0)

Wiseman: Barnatt used his reach, striking combinations, ground game and determination to be ranked top-3 by Jones.

Timothy Williams (7-1) vs. Dylan Andrews (16-4-1)

Wiseman: Williams showed that he has a strong chin as Andrews was able to connect with powerful punches. It was a close fight as both fighters put on a show everywhere the fight went, but Andrews was able to eke out the decision win.

Mike Jaspar (6-0) vs. Collin Hart (4-1-1)

Wiseman: Hart used his dirty boxing in a Randy Couture-type of a way to completely bombard Jaspar until he got a submission win.

WEEK 1 THOUGHTS:

Wiseman: As usual, this season showcased a lot of talent, but a large factor of winning has to do with the fight picks. Sonnen won the coin toss, so he decided to choose first. The teams are as follows:

TEAM SONNEN:

TUF coach Chael Sonnen.

Luke Barbatt (1st pick based on conditioning)

Uriah Hall

Zak Cummings

Tor Troeng

Jimmy Quinlan

Kevin Casey

Kelvin Gastelum

TEAM JONES:

TUF coach Jon Jones.

Clint Hester (1st pick based on size, takedowns and ground-and-pound)

Josh Samman

Bubba McDaniel

Gilbert Smith

Collin Hart

Adam Cella

Dylan Andrews

For the first fight Jones put Gilbert Smith against Sonnen’s #1 pick, Luke Barnatt. An interesting thing that happened is that Josh Samman, after trying four times to make it into the Ultimate Fighter house, had a list made up of how he thought the fights should go. Even though he got the other fighters talking about who they wanted to pair up against, Jones decided against Samman fighting first. A sign of clashing of the heads between these two as the show progresses.